Thirty years ago the US high-energy physics community planned the most powerful hadron collider ever attempted, the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). The Department of Energy conducted a nation-wide site search. Stockbridge, Michigan and Batavia, Illinois were among the finalists, but Waxahachie, Texas won the competition. Initial construction began in 1989, but by 1992 the project was in trouble. After spending nearly $3B, Congress cancelled the SSC in 1993, and Europe seized the energy frontier. In the talk I will recall the brief history of the SSC and discuss some of the reasons for its demise.